Democracy needs the press, which needs to be supported “even if you don’t like its views”, veteran BBC journalist Kate Adie told a spellbound audience at the EY conference this afternoon.

Kate Adie. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The former war reporter has achieved near-legend status over her four decades as a journalist, but her speech, which started off with anecdotes about Kosovo and the Iraq wars, quickly turned serious when she started to talk about the role of the media in society.

“I feel this so strongly. The press needs to be supported even if you don’t like its views. The press tells truth to power. It is a grand aspiration and we try to fulfil it. It is enormously important.

“Yes, there are citizen journalists now and everyone with a mobile phone considers themselves to be a journalist. But a proper, trained and trusted journalist always verifies the story – you find another source, go to see for yourself, check. You verify. You talk to the people on the ground, get as close as you can to the truth,” she said, warning that gossip and rumour were leaking into news sites. It is about making a good and fair judgment.

“Fake news is a mix of social media news, gossip, rumour and made-up news. But also fake news is news which [US President] Trump does not like. Trump is one of the more dangerous things that has happened in the media world as he is undermining the proper media’s work.”

Ms Adie acknowledged that business was taking over media houses, but that while all journalists wanted to earn a living, money was not the motivation.

“Journalists are there to tell truth to power. That is why we risk our lives. We need support and encouragement, information, the goodwill of the people behind them… even if you do not agree with everything that is printed or said.

“If we do this, we will get a better society. We may be a nuisance and aggravate people. Well, good on us if we are the ‘awkward squad’ but a country thrives if it is equipped with people like ourselves.”

Ms Adie said that she did not have enough background about the island to comment on what was happening – she did not mention the murder of blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia – but she has a poignant message for Malta: “You are a democracy; you are part of the EU. The country is doing well. I am a stranger but let me ask you to support your media and the voice of freedom.

“This is not the time to start encroaching on the media. The more we shed light in the dark corners, the better we will all be for it. When asked about the job, a journalist should be able to say it was a privilege to do a job where you might do a little good.”